In one of my previous articles, I had mentioned that we are not even near the end of 2020. I claimed that it was too early to hope for a better 2021. Around today marks the middle of 2020. Yet still, it is too early to forget about what makes 2020 special to you. Though waiting all these months is a tedious process, one that will require the same repetitive motions over and over again, persevering through the first six months of the year, an emphasis on the last three, can’t and shouldn’t count for nothing. Why give up now?

“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence. There is no substitute for hard work.” – Colin Powell

In this COVID-19 situation, being successful would mainly be combating the virus spread in many ways, including a vaccine, returning to work and our daily lives without fear, sympathizing with those who lost their loved ones, but most importantly, being more prepared and coming out as a stronger individual. Most of the time we associate something being cliche with it being done or said a million times. In this situation, though these words have been said over and over again, we haven’t lived or done justice to these words yet. The sole reason: the virus continues to spread.

Putting the quote into context, hard work is us taking the appropriate safety procedures into consideration and executing them well enough for the virus to not enter our bodies. It also means having that determination to keep going, even if it means roaming the halls of our homes for what may seem like an eternity, but in reality, just the remainder of the year.

In addition, we need to be loyal to the world. Taking the situation casually or losing this “mental battle” you fought for over five months could put others at risk for developing the virus. Persistence would mean overcoming the desperation to return to normal lives when the situation doesn’t give way. Lastly, learning from this situation and working towards preventing this from happening in the future would help ensure more “normal” lives.